One month to go!

Well, time here is slowly winding down. I have less than a month to go working with Jatan. Hard to believe! But this past month has gone very well. About half of the other interns have moved on, either traveling or back at home. I have continued working on my project with Jatan: developing certain health materials for the migrant population here. I have received the surveys back from the field (finally!) and have been able to start collecting materials to form the basis of the training. Primarily, it will just entail first aid training and uses of a basic first aid kit. Eventually it will morph into more preventative care (ie how to assess dangers in the workplace, before they become a problem). Tomorrow, I am traveling to another city (about 5 hours away) to observe some workplaces of the migrants in hopes of starting to collect this particular information. Anyway, theres is much to do in my last four weeks here. I am happy to be busy here, but I can already anticipate having to leave 'unfinished' work. That's the life of a short-term intern, I suppose.

A couple of weekends ago, I was able to take some time off and travel with some of the other interns a bit. We went up to a city called Khajuraho. It is a place with numerous and gorgeous temples. What is unique about them is (there's no way around it) that they are quite erotic. It is an oddity especially in such a conservative religion. But it was a relaxing weekend for the most part. It took three different trains to reach the location, with many layovers, some in the middle of the night. So that was my first adventure on the Indian train system. I'm glad to have checked it out; it definitely is a worthwhile experience to seek out. But if you can, get a direct train :)

These last few weeks, I am trying to do all the little things I have not yet done. Yes, some are touristy, some a gift buying, but the main one is finding a Sachin Tendulkar cricket jersey (he is, without argument, the greatest Indian cricketer). So wish me luck with that one...I might have to get it Delhi though.

Anyway, quick update. Sorry for falling behind on these! But I can't wait to catch up with everyone in SA and NC. Hope you are well.

Paul

BTW the pictures is of the people who went on the weekend trip and behind us is gorge that floods during monsoon season. They called it the Indian Grand Canyon...a little bit of a stretch, but it was cool nonetheless.

Life goes on

Here in Udaipur, life is going very well suffice it to say. I know my way around, feel comfortable anywhere in the city, have a rhythm of work and hanging out with other interns...so all in all pretty fantastic. Also, some good news...I confirmed admittance to Wake Forest’s Masters in Counseling program! I am pretty excited about it as counseling is really what I want to do professionally and long term. So I will start (back) at Wake this upcoming fall.

But, besides that good news, many things have been going on. I have been applying for a grant for my NGO, which has been a learning experience, albeit tedious. I will be sending in the grant today (yay!). This past weekend all of the interns had our midterm retreat at a vacation spot called Mt. Abu. The trip went fine - beautiful sites, cool temples - but even being away for a short while made us realize that we really do like Udaipur. You like what you are used to...right?

It’s so hard to believe that I will be heading out of here in two months...time flies for sure. But I really do feel in a good place. I am comfortable living here and there are still a number of things that I want to work on in the NGO. So even though I have my work cut out for me, I am pretty relaxed about it. I just want to give as much as I can to the folks here as I can.

And I am leaving Udaipur a week early in May to travel a little bit before I leave India. I thought coming over here that I could do some weekend trips, but travel just takes so long that it is really not feasible. I’m planning on heading east to Darjeeling and check out some tea plantations. That is really the main destination I would want to see as I love tea and, in general, observing ‘artisan-focused’ agricultural production.

Oh and this weekend is Holi...one of the major celebrations in these parts. The main part of the festivities is throwing florescent-colored powders at each other. Apparently, it can get kinda ridiculous with people mixing ‘other things’ in the colors. So we are staying mainly in our neighborhoods with our host families. Nevertheless, it should be a good time.

Anyway, sorry for the delayed update. I hope all is well with you!

On, zoom, click

Cows, cows, cows. Always in trash too. Odd, but whatever. I've gotten used to it.

A typical 'thali' plate. That is a mixture of different dishes, sauces, dal, and who knows what else. Did I mention it was all you could eat? And, yes, I did eat all I could.

A Hindu temple near one of the satellite offices. Simply gorgeous. Actually, most of the temple is underwater, so when the lake dries up people go into the main part of the complex. Most serene and incredible place I have been to yet.

And so it begins...

As I sit here in the Jatan office thinking about this past week, it has been a whirlwind of events: meeting new people, seeing much of the surrounding area, and getting settled into my host family.

While I have taken in so much at my host NGO, there is still so much to learn about what they do and who they help. Last week, I came into the office and read and read and read. Thankfully, they have many reports and studies which I was able to flip through to understand the organization. Much of the staff also speaks workable English making the transition quite smooth. As most of my time with Jatan will be spent working on a 'project,' from the first day I was keeping my eyes peeled for where I could chip in. Pretty soon it was made apparent that the there was a project I could start working on. Essentially, I will be researching and developing materials to be used for occupational health trainings for the migrant communities. Over the past ten years, Jatan has done much with this population so this project is a natural next step. Granted, I feel very inadequate for this project, but I will give it my best shot! Regardless, it continues to be enlightening as to how this grassroots development work gets implemented in such a locale.

Last week, I was able to go out into the 'field' (ie the satellite communities around Udaipur where Jatan works). In some ways, I feel like I was on a bull back in San Antonio at the rodeo, I was tossed from place to place in the field, jumping on random motorcycles and taken to another office or event. I was able to meet many friendly folks as well as the Jatan staff at the other offices. The color of my skin was also much more apparent than here in the city, ergo I got much more attention. Nevertheless, on Friday I found my way back to Udaipur crammed like a sardine into a government-run bus.

The weekends have been a nice reprieve. The interns placed in Udaipur typically get together and share a meal together and just catch up (ie share funny and frustrating stories of the past week). All in all, this time has been really great so far (minus learning Hindi...that could use some work:/. It's hard to believe I will be here three and a half months, but I know it will fly by. I hope everyone is doing great wherever you are!

Paul

Once I get an improved internet connection, I should be able to put some pictures up.

Greetings from India!

Greetings one and all!

Sometimes experiences live up to expectations and other times they don't. But ideally, expectations are not had, so the experience can forge itself, unabated by hypothetical notions. This has been my approach in coming to India. It is not a place I can neatly put in the context of a past undergraduate class or even a location I can leave to the pontifications of an author or teacher. Not that education would misrepresent or skew my time in India, but I hope to experiment in absorbing all I can without being told to think or even how to think about a topic or issue...yet.

To save you from the wanderings of my thoughts, I will be more explicit about what am currently doing here.

This past week has been the orientation of my/our program in Udaipur. Essentially, I went through orientation with 7 other interns (staying different periods of time with different host NGOs and host families). We we taken through the juggernaut of life in Udaipur and our internship program: Hindi lessons, guest speakers from local NGOs, city tours, and, of course, my favorite eating at a myriad of tasty restaurants. All of the interns seem to get along seamlessly well, all coming from different backgrounds, jobs, schools, parts of the country, etc. I have been given some clarity as to my day-to-day life here. I will be working with Jatan focusing on migration issues. Oddly, NGOs here focus on the other side of migration, the leaving. Rajasthan, the region I am currently in, is plague with many developmental issues (more later) so many people, men and children especially, leave for other regions in search of work. So the challenge is quite multifaceted as services need to be provided and anticipated needs must be addressed. I know little about the 'how's, why's' and other unanswerable questions, but hopefully will be illuminated to them in a small way in the coming weeks.

I have so much to write...but I know if I was reading I would lose interest a few sentences back, so ideally I will update the blog more often and with greater details. But, in short, the food has been nothing short of amazing, the people have been quite kind, unfortunately traveler's diarrhea is a reality, learning the language is presenting itself as my personal nemesis, and my jet lag is all but gone. I have a feeling I am going to get along with this place, once I learn how to effectively get around using a 'tempo' (communal rickshaw/taxi) and constantly remind myself that I did not come here to 'do,' but to 'learn.'

Cheers.
Paul

Btw the picture is in the 'Old City' from the rooftop of our hotel we stayed in the first week.

Leaving soon!

Well, I head out for Udiapur, India on this Thursday and I can feel the swelling of many feelings: anticipation, excitement and hope. The past few weeks I have received much information regarding where I will be staying, the other interns placed throughout the city and the content of the work that I will be doing. While I will be working independently with a non-profit, there will be other interns that will go through orientation with me the first week and I'm sure we will keep in touch during the time there. Nevertheless, most of my time there is still in the realm of the 'unknown.' My hope is that despite the undefined or unclear, I am enabled to beneficently serve the NGO I will be working with and, in turn, the population with whom they serve. In some ways this is an trial in self-reliance, but in other ways it is just the opposite. Relying on God, the talents and abilities I have been blessed with, the goodwill of both my host family and NGO, and the general hospitality of the Indian people are the many parts that will contribute to my experience in Udaipur. Suffice it to say, I will be putting the entirety of who I am into my work there. I can't wait to observe grassroots development from the on-the-ground perspective and have pre/misconceptions overturned. Next update sent will be in India! Also, previous blog posts were from my time working on a farm in Italy this past fall if interested.

This is the NGO that I will be working with: www.jatansansthan.org/

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!